Bonus points for any non-D&D or D&D derivative systems.
My first RPG was Palladium Fantasy way back when my grognard uncle invited me to his groups table. I still don’t really grok it, but it was pretty formative of my ideas of what an RPG could be. The lack of balance and extreme existential threats as part of ordinary encounters included.
Needless to say, I haven’t found a group for this system in a looong while, eheh.
Any of the crazy, mostly-single-page, mostly-free RPGs made by Grant Howitt. They start off sounding almost sensible (Death was the Only Road Out of Town, System Shutdown), then start pushing the boundaries (Honey Heist, TRAMFORCE), before going all in on the madness (Seans Bean star in: A VERY NORTHERN CHRISTMAS, Jason Statham’s Big Vacation). Great for a last minute one-shot with zero planning required and maximum laughs produced.
Oh God, Palladium. That was… A way to do things.
I fucking love G.U.R.P.S. Is it ground breaking? No. Is it fun to smash 6 different flavors together, hash out what survives, and run a short adventure or a few one-shots? Hell yeah! It’s not often I run into anyone who has a fondness for the system. Hell, I get kinda excited if someones even heard of it, even if they didn’t have a great experience.
Also rather enjoyed Ironclaw. I see it written off as “That Furry TT”, but I had a good time with it. Would happily play more.
I find in practice that I prefer d20hero/mutants and masterminds over GURPS. It has all the same flexibility but WILDLY less math.
Scion (White Wolf). Maybe Eclipse Phase. Mutants and Masterminds.
Mage: the Ascension. It’s the only system I’ve ever played where I really felt like I knew MAGIC, rather than just a handful of pre-scripted tricks.
Warhammer RPG, Earthdawn 3rd ed or Hero System is my owned top games that see too little game time.
Mutant Undergångens Arvtagare is also sorely missed on the table
I would love to play a retro clone like Old-School Essentials, Labyrinth Lord and Swords & Wizardry. I wanted to try the old school DnD mega dungeon system.
For non-Dnd system I would like to Apocalypse World system like Monster of the Week. I downloaded a new system called Coyote and Crow that seems very interesting. It is set in a North America that was never colonized with some cool magic elements. The setting looks dope but I have no idea about the mechanics. I didn’t get that far in my reading of the rules yet
Dragonbane. Got my box set, have Foundry all set up. Just need a group that wants to play.
I would love to do more Thirsty Sword Lesbians
I really want to try OG Rifts one day
I really want to give masks a shot sometimes
Dresden files rpg!! I’d settle for any fate system or dresden based game tbh
My first RPG was called “Het Oog des Meesters”, translated from the original German “Die Schwarze Auge”. It was probably pretty bad compared to AD&D but I loved it as a kid. In the one hand I’d love to play it again. On the other hand, playing might ruin my memory of the game. Like rewatching a bad cartoon from your childhood.
Unknown armies 3rd edition. Did the kickstarter however long ago that was but haven’t had a group in that long to try it out with.
Rifts, although it could use an optimization pass or two on the rule set.
Everything on my shelf. Cyborg, Forbidden Lands, Spire etc.
Cyborg and all the Mork Borg games are so great. I want to play and run them more too. I did a few months long Pirate Borg campaign and it was such a blast. I really want to give Vast Grimm a go too.
These games are just so fast, fun, random and wild. Such rich tools for great storytelling. Love, love, love them.
Ive only played/ran one shots in borg . Hows it work for longer form campaigns?
Same as any other game really.
With Pirate Borg there is a really great “sandbox” style thing included with the book that lets players freely explore and roam a large area with lots of dungeons, caves, encounters etc. We had a bigger offshoot story arc that we were following from some previous games in other systems and tied in to a story arc on the island that interested the players.
With Mork Borg I was trying to do a rapid fire series of lunchtime games over a long campaigns where players were being called upon to do things by this unseen force.
It was actually a thing that came up during character creation where we gave the group a common background element. The element we rolled was that all the players hear the incessant sounds of the insects and worms that tells them to go places and do things. This is enough to pretty much take any one shots and tie them together as part of something bigger. What that bigger thing is? Who knows. We will figure it out and I enjoy letting the players find meaning in stuff like that to make it powerful.